British tourists have toured the scenarios of the Battle of Teruel with Historical Trips

If on Tuesday military soldiers from NATO were visiting Teruel to see the urban scenarios where the Battle of Teruel developed during the Civil War, yesterday British tourists made the same route, as part of a visit to Spain.

Oct 20, 2016 - 2:00 PM

Mayor of Teruel, Emma Buj (PP) remembered yesterday they were working in placing signs to the urban enclaves linked to the battle, while the Federation of Neighbourhood Associations insisted for the construction of a museum about the Battle of Teruel is among their priority objectives.

Moira Cowie has no family members which had combated in the International Brigade, but she was very curious to know about the XX century. ‘The war in Spain is a very important moment in world history when fascism and communism were in conflict’ , she commented, while a travelling companion, Graham Bull, remembered it was the prelude to the Second World War.

Their eight day tour visits Toledo, Madrid, Belchite and Barcelona not forgetting the battlefields at the Jarama and Ebro, and the Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caídos).

The guide of the group, Jason Webster, who when in Teruel was joined by local expert Fernando Hernández, explained this was his third visit which get quality coverage in the British press which has an interest in the Spanish Civil War. Webster noted Teruel was the only capital of Spanish province which managed to reconquer the Republic. Today the group are visiting the local trenches.

The youngest member on the tour was Nick Druce, whose grandfather had joined the brigade and combated in the Battle of Jarama. He did not know his relative had participated in the International Brigades until he died, and he was curiously looking at his old papers. That was when he decided visit where his Grandfather had come leaving his home country to fight for another. ‘Now I understand, before no’ he commented after visiting the landscapes where his grandfather fought, and he now understood the Republican ideals to face fascism, which by then had extended across Europe and gave rise to the Second World War.

Finally, Moira Cowie, has written a doctoral thesis on the international brigade, explained her motivation to visit was to understand why her country had not officially supported the Republic.